Frankie Tillman, Black Voting Pioneer

OBITUARIES

November 19, 1994

WEST PALM BEACH - — Palm Beach County's first registered black voter, Frankie Tillman, died on Nov. 9 after a brief illness. He was 75.

She exerted a calm, quiet and steadying influence on her community, said Deborah Harris of the Black Historical Society of Palm Beach County. Mrs. Tillman's husband, Preston, was one of the society's co-founders.

Mrs. Tillman made her mark on the community early, becoming the first of her race to register to vote, in early 1948 after a trio of black men were turned away from the polls when they tried to vote in that year's primary election. A U.S. Supreme Court decision had outlawed the white-only primary, and a precinct was set up at Mrs. Tillman's father's market after an attorney demanded the men be allowed to vote.

She was appointed deputy registrar for that precinct, and registered to vote to become eligible to hold that position. She voted in every election from that time until the present.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Tillman is survived by a son, Herbert Perez; and grandchildren Dawn and Renata Tillman and Ricky and Percilita Perez.